It's easy to ignore the fact that many beverages are fat-filled and calorie-packed. Do you really want to spend 500 calories on a smoothie, or an insane 740 calories on a Starbucks Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino? Even fruit juice has 100-170 calories per cup. We prefer to spend our calories on things that we can CHEW (chewing is fun). Besides, there are tons of guilt-free coffee drinks, sodas, juices, hot chocolates, etc... So don't waste calories on drinks -- swap the high cal versions for these replacements, and sip to your heart's content!

Drinking Calories = Bad News!

Break That Fast!

Not Eating Breakfast...

Think you're doing yourself a favor by not eating breakfast? Think again. Studies show that breakfast-skippers actually take in MORE calories by the end of the day than people who have a morning meal. Why? When you bypass breakfast, you end up so hungry that when you finally do eat, you're likely to eat too much. And, when you let yourself get that hungry, you're more likely to grab whatever is convenient (which is often processed, high cal, high fat foods) instead of looking for something healthy. Furthermore, by missing your morning meal you're also slowing down your metabolism. Skip breakfast and you'll have a slugglish metabolism until lunchtime. Bottom line? ALWAYS EAT BREAKFAST!

Gra-NO-La!

Falling For Food Fakers...

Trail mix, dried fruit, granola? They all sound like diet-friendly treats, right? WRONG! These, and other food fakers have wrecked many a diet. That's why you absolutely NEED to check food labels before putting anything in your mouth. If you look at the nutritionals on that bag of trail mix, you'll see that 1 cup packs in around 700 calories, 45 grams of fat, and 67 carbs. Yikes!

Not Counting Condiments...

Unfortunately, what you put ON your food is just as important as what's IN your food. Topping your sandwich with a spoonful of mayo? That'll cost you about 100 calories. Two tablespoons of sour cream will cost you the same. The good news is that there are tons of diet-friendly condiments that can perk up your food. Salsas, mustards, dijonnaise, ketchup and reduced fat sour creams are all guilt-free and delicious condiment choices. Just remember not to kid yourself and think that CONDIMENTS DON'T COUNT. They SO do.

Mayo is Not Okay-o!

The Dreaded Tortilla Bowl...Ay Caramba!

Thinking All Salads are Healthy...

Salads = healthy, right? Uhhhh, not necessarily. Depending on what you toss on top of that salad, you could be better off eating a burger, or even pizza. For example, Taco Bell's Fiesta Taco Salad contains 870 calories (btw, that's the same amount you'd get from 5 crunchy tacos). But, wait. That doesn't mean you should ditch the greens (or order 5 tacos, for that matter). Just be sure to order your salads carefully. Avoid, eggs, bacon bits, cheese, toasted noodles, fatty meats, sour cream, guacamole, and full fat dressings. Instead bulk your salad up with reduced fat feta or parmesan, garbanzo beans, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, turkey breast, tuna packed in water and light salad dressings. Don't be one of those people who insists they're "watching their weight" as they chomp down a grilled chicken caesar, topped with croutons and 200-calorie dressing!

Not Reading Labels Carefully...

We cannot stress the importance of paying attention to food labels enough. Quite often, there are several servings in a food item/package that APPEARS to be a single serving. You need to pay CLOSE attention to the "servings per container" and then multiply all of the nutritional info by that number in order to accurately assess what you're taking in. Yes, that tiny bag of chips has TWO servings, so DOUBLE THOSE NUTRITIONALS!

Beware of Label Fables!

CHEW ON THIS:Today, April 8th, is National Empanada Day. It's hard to make a fruit, veggie or meat-filled turnover diet-friendly. Anyone have any ideas? Send 'em in!

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